Released on 6th August, 1965, and eight months after Beatles For Sale, the recordings for Help! had actually started in earnest in mid February just one month after the guys had completed a season of 'Another Beatles Christmas Show' at London's Hammersmith Odeon. Within days of the final February session, they were off to the Bahamas to film scenes for the movie, which like 'A Hard Day's Night' was directed by Richard Lester. From the Bahamas, The Beatles headed East to Obertauern, in Austria before heading back to the UK for more filming. A new single, 'Ticket To Ride' was released on 9th April and this needed to be promoted so various TV performances took place from the end of March to mid April along with an appearance at NME Poll-winners concert. All of these taking place either side of more filming which continued on and off until the middle of June by which time The Beatles had returned to Abbey Road to complete the material for the non-soundtrack side of the forthcoming album. On the 12th June, 1965 it was announced that The Beatles had been awarded MBE's in the Queen's birthday honours list - an accolade previously never given to young pop stars Like A Hard Day's Night, Help! contained the songs from the film on side one of the album with the other side devoted to other new recordings including two covers. Unlike A Hard Day's Night, the two singles released prior to and alongside the album had exclusive B-sides. Help! also marked the return of George Harrison as a songwriter. George contributed one song to each side of the album. Each of the CDs is packaged with replicated original UK album art, including expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. Within each CD's new packaging, booklets include detailed historical notes along with informative recording notes. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-heard studio chat from The Beatles, offering a unique and very personal insight into the studio atmosphere. The albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London. The result of this painstaking process is the highest fidelity the catalogue has seen since its original release.
